She Promised
by Never Once
Summary: What if Emma, Regina and Henry had been on the Titanic? What if that beautiful ship sunk and three lives were in danger? What happens if one of them ends up dead? Rated T for death.
1. Chapter 1

Promises

TheEvilQueen

What if Emma, Regina and Henry had been on the Titanic? What if that beautiful ship sunk and three lives were in danger? What happens if one of them ends up _dead_?

Chapter One

I don't know how that cursed woman got aboard, but I'm liable to threaten she's a thief and have her imprisoned for the rest of the trip. But Henry would never forgive me if I did such a thing. And so I sit quietly, keenly and silently aware of her presense, while I sip the brunch tea and Henry politely cuts the Easter ham slice they presented him.

Emma laughs with her group of friends- I don't know how she got the friendly eye of Ms. Bishop's daughter- but somehow she did. And now she sails with us, in first class, when all she could probably truly afford was third class or steerage. They, like most of the girls on board that are single, drink champagne and wine even though it's nowhere close to the dinner hour. Any half-respectable gentleman that happens to wander by is subject to flirtatious gestures from the entire table. Twelve young beauties waving their fingertips and asking for more alcoholic beverages.

"I'm finished. Can I go out on deck and look around?" Henry asks, pushing a near empty plate away from him.

"I suppose." He will make a habit of walking by Ms. Swan's table. And when she thinks I'm not looking, she'll excuse herself too and they will frolic on deck as mother and son, something Henry constantly denies me. "But don't spend too long. The weather's quite chilly and I don't want you catching cold."

He nods and leaves me alone. Now without the presence of a young son, I too order a glass of wine. It's not shameful, just not delightful. But no one has called me delightful in a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Henry is easily rocked to sleep by the engine. He enjoys traveling, even with me. Trains, boats, carriages, even walking gives him a thrill. New places, new people. He'll be a great mind one day. I'm betting on something scientific, with the way he studies plants and animals. But he notices people too. He reads them just like his fairy tale book- easily and in depth. Perhaps he'll do something with psychology.

"Ms. Mills, are you decent?" That doesn't sound like Greta.

I go to the front door, shutting Henry's bedroom door quietly. I pull on my robe as I go, even though the voice isn't masculine. "My son's asleep, so please be-," I stop. That stupid, arrogant, troublesome blonde. "Fast."

She tries to smile, but she knows it won't help. "That's exactly who I came to talk about."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I manage to be civil and set out the tea. She gives me a polite thank you, sips it quietly for a moment and for several minutes we comment on the weather and our American plans. But soon enough she gets down to business.

"Henry and I are quite found of each other."

I force a smile. "I've noticed."

"I was wondering if it would be permitted for him to live with me- once we get to America."

I frown. "You said you were planning for Chicago. My home is in New York City."

"Well, yes. That's why we have to discuss it."

There is a fraction of a second when I just stare at her, not understanding how she can justify herself. She's asking to take my son away from me. She wants to take Henry, the only person I have in this world, to another state once we reach another country. My hand smacks across her face with a crack as loud as lightening while my eyes do nothing but glare.

"You will _not _be permitted to take my son from me. He is the only person I have in this world Ms. Swan, so don't you _dare _consider the possibility of taking him away."

She feels the slap mark on her face in silent shock. Her eyes do not leave mine, even when I point to the door and order for her to _get out_. "But Regina-"

"There are no buts about it. He's staying with me. I'm his _mother_."

She stands too, glaring back in pure defiance. "I'm his mother too. Our relationship has grown more on this voyage than it has in ten years with _you_."

"I _will _hit you again Ms. Swan if you do not leave this room immediately. It's getting quite late."

"It's only nine o'clock. And I refuse to leave until I get some sort of share in Henry's life."

"Well then you might as well wait for forever. Until Henry is of legal deciding age, he will be in my care. It's not up for discussion."

"It should be. He wants to be with _me _Regina. He's miserable with you."

My eyes have a constant wall up, boxing away my emotions, but I'm terrified that for a fraction of a second she has seen how weak I am when it comes to Henry. I know he hates me. But I love him. He is the only thing I have worth living for. I had money and power in my other life too. But in the Enchanted Forest I didn't have Henry.

We argue for hours, both of us trying to convince the other that our plan is ideal. Eventually we stop bringing up what we want and only state the benefits for Henry. Paragraphs of possibilities are thrown from both her side and mine. But both of us remain stubborn in the fact that _I _am not giving in, so _she'll _have to give in.

Around midnight, both of us exhausted but unwilling to postpone of the war of words, there is strange sensation. As if we were being drug along something very rough and judging by the screech of metal, it sounded like a huge hole was being torn into the bottom or side of the ship. We look at each other in intense fear, but I shake my head.

"This boat is unsinkable Ms. Swan. The engineers and designers promised that it would take an act of God to even puncture her side. There are several compartments that can flood before there's even mild danger."

She nods and sighs. "Anyways-"

"Did you feel that?" Henry has bolted from his room and is standing in his doorway in fear.

I smile reassuringly. "Everything's fine Henry. Do you remember what the captain said? This ship is unsinkable. There's a double bottom and several floodable compartments. I'm sure whatever hit us didn't do that much damage."

He nods, but turns to Emma. "Is everything going to be okay?"

She is aware that I hate her more than ever in this moment. She is stealing my son, slowly and surely. She gives him a small smile. "Listen to your mom Henry. Nothing can sink her."

He nods and goes back to bed, not even bothering to ask why we're both still up. We look at each other for a moment before I yawn and utter 'tomorrow'. She nods and takes her leave, but pausing at the doorway.

"Goodnight Regina."

I want to punch her for being so sweet and nice and civil. Trying to prove that Henry will still be respectable in her care. I lick my lips. "Goodnight Ms. Swan."

"It's Emma."

I don't smile. "Goodnight."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The knock on the door comes between midnight and one a.m. I answer is angrily and sleepily. If it's Ms. Swan, I _will _hit her.

"Ms. Mills, you and Henry need to put these on and come to the first class deck." Greta shoves two life vests at me.

"Why?"

The look on her face shows fear and a lie. A lie she wants to tell me, but knows I don't deserve. I have a child I need to protect- I deserve the truth. "We've hit an iceberg ma'am. They don't believe we can stay afloat for more than another hour."

It is the first time fear had shown in me that another human being can see. She does not smile, does not reassure me. I want to scream and hit her, angry that this beautiful ship that was supposed to protect me and my son is going to do the exact opposite.

"But the compartments and the double bottom," I manage to stammer, as if that's an excuse.

"Maybe it's just servant rumors ma'am. There might be nothing to worry about." But her eyes say that she doesn't believe those words.

I grab her shoulders and shake her. "Tell me the truth. Who did you hear that from?"

Like everyone else who knows me, she appears fearful. "Ma'am please calm down. I've only heard it from other maids and servants. But the root of the source is the men working for the captain. They've ordered we bring you on deck so we can load the life boats."

"Life boats?" I feel faint and grab the doorway. "It isn't so bad we need life boats. It can't be. This ship is supposed to be unsinkable!"

"I'm sorry ma'am. Please, just get this on your son and go to the first class deck. They're loading there."

"Where's yours?"

"I don't have one yet ma'am."

I look at her in utter shock. I am hateful and evil and undeniably cruel to most of humanity. But this girl could be no older than twenty and as member of the crew, she is not entitled to a life jacket. She will also not be entitled to a life boat. Passengers first. "Take mine."

She firmly shakes her head. "Absolutely not. You have a child to take care of."

"You're a child too. Wear it."

"I'll get one as soon as I finish handing them out to this hallway. Please, just take two." And she spills them into my arms and marches on.

I don't want to scare him. But he'll need to know that this is a dire situation and he cannot dilly-dally. I rouse him gently, telling him that there's a problem and we have to get to the deck. He is so clouded by sleep that I have to put his life vest on for him, take his hand and lead him outside like a small child. The cold air punches us both awake and he quickly appears afraid.

"What's going on? What problem is there?" He clings to my hand.

There is a seemingly never ending crowd around us. The boat is at a slight tilt, I can feel it. But I smile down at him bravely. "We're getting into the smaller boats to get to another safe ship."

"But why isn't this one safe?"

"It has a scratch and they need to repair it."

"Repair?" A nearby man snorts. "Tell your boy the truth. She's sinking."

Whatever I thought was fear has at least doubled in his eyes. He is squeezing the life out of my hand. "But-but you said that it couldn't. It was unsinkable. You promised!" He looks very close to crying.

"Henry, we're going to be fine. Even if she sinks, we'll be safe and sound on a lifeboat and then another ship will come and pick us up and take us on to New York."

Then I remember the jewelry that's in the safe. My mother's black diamond and gold ring. A ruby necklace with matching earrings. An emerald broach, an amethyst broach and a diamond pendent. A topaz hairclip.

"Henry, I need to go the safe. Do you want to stay here or come with me?"

He clings to me with eyes wide in fear. "Please don't leave me."

"Very well." I squeeze his hand and trudge back down the stairs, all the way to the safe.

A crowd has packed the small room. Tons of people, demanding cash and jewels and whatever else they thought was expensive enough to be in a safe. I try to push to the front of the crowd, but no one will let me through. I join the yelling and demanding throng until a manservant comes to the stairwell and yells to shut it down.

"My mother's jewelry is in there!" I shout, accompanied by others.

"Everyone needs to get to the boats!" Is all he replies to us.

Henry is again looking extremely fearful, but I smile and squeeze his hand. "We're fine. They just have to yell to be heard. Let's go back up to deck."

But my jewelry request has sent him suddenly running. "My book!" He is tearing up the stairs faster than I can.

"Henry! Stop! Wait!"

I find him digging through the desk in his room and then beaming as he gently lifts out the brown and gold book. He smiles. "It's safe."

I nod, trying to smile for him, but I'm extremely annoyed. It's just a book. "Now that we have one of our prized possessions, let's get back to the deck."

He nods and I take his hand. For some reason, having his book makes him less fearful. As if fairytales can protect him from everything wrong with the world. I remember how I used to find security in objects. In the Enchanted Forest, it was mirrors. I had hundreds lining the hallway to my chambers. After the Genie got into the small hand mirror, I demanded more so he could be with me at all times. But when he wasn't present in one, they made me hate myself. The person staring back at me was cruel and heartless and ugly. Her face was too round, her neck too long, her forehead too tall, her breasts too small, and her hips too wide. I can blame the hips on Abel and Rose and Bonny- three births really can give you hips. But everything else runs through my head in my mother's voice. Never once did she call me beautiful. Something was always wrong with my appearance.

"M-mom?" Henry suddenly squeezes my hand as we appear on deck.

The tilt is greater so that everyone can feel it. They are now loading the boats in a crooked way and I see almost no women or children. The band is playing a tune I can recognize, but not name. The lights are beginning to flicker and Henry is softly crying, clutching my hand as if I can fly us to someplace painless and happy. I rush to the lifeboat I see.

"Are there any more women or children?" The man calls out, the lifeboat only half-full.

"Yes! Yes, we're right here!" I can and shove Henry in front of me.

They help him into the boat and I have one foot in when he springs up.

"Emma! Where's Emma? She wasn't on the dock earlier and she wasn't in the safe and she wasn't in the hallway when we came back through."

"Maybe she's on another lifeboat. Now please sit back down." I get my other foot in.

"But she wasn't Mom! What if she's still on the ship?" He tries to get out of the boat, the storybook still clutched to his chest.

"Sit back down this instant!" I order, maybe too harshly. "You will _not _get out, do you understand me?"

He looks at me tearfully. "She's can't die. I can't let her die."

"She's first class Henry, I'm sure they got her on a lifeboat."

He looks confused. "No she wasn't."

"Ma'am, if you're going, we need you to sit down."

I don't sit. "Henry, what class was she?"

He thinks. "She was third. Ms. Bishop's daughter always asked her to dine because she was so nice."

The breath catches in my throat. Third class has almost no chance. I heard the steerage gates were still locked. Third class wouldn't be any better. If I don't go back for her, she'll die and will never threaten Henry or me again. But if I don't go back, Henry will never forgive me.

I lean over and kiss his forehead. "Stay on the boat. I'll get on another one with Emma."

He's crying. "But-"

"No buts. We'll meet up later, understand?" He nods and buries his face in my shoulder before I gently pry him off and get off.

The boatmen look anxious. "Perhaps that isn't the best plan ma'am."

"I'll come back Henry. I promise."

"Ma'am," One of them catches my arm and pulls me close. "This may be one of the last boats."

I shake him off. "One of the last, not _the _last."

The look in their eyes said it's probably the last one, they just said 'one of' to make it sound better, less gloomy. But Henry's eyes are pleading for me to do this- asking me to be his hero. I will be keeping my worst enemy alive and I hate myself for it. But maybe, just maybe, this will help me win Henry's heart back.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Emma!" I start going down the stairs, searching every hallway. The tilt is getting worse and every time I blink I can see Henry in that tiny lifeboat, unsure if he is ever going to see one of his mothers again. "Emma Swan!" I keep going, praying that she'll be in the first class section. But apparently God doesn't listen to non-Christians who are only begging for their own sake. Considering everything pastors say, I'm not surprised. God is merciful, but just. And justice, honestly, would be me dying and Henry getting to be with Emma. "Emma Swan!" I go down to second class and there's water soaking the floor up to my ankles. She's not here either. I take a breath for bravery, for Henry, and wade down the stairs. Here in third class the water is up to my knees and I can tell that soon it will be at my waist. Half of the people I see do not have life vests. They are trying to get past stubborn men. The gates appear locked, but it seems that periodically they're letting people out. "Emma Swan." I say to them through the metal. "I need Emma Swan."

They glance at each other and shout the name over the sound of rushing water. Emma appears at the front of the crowd, her hair messy and wet, and her face strong, but breaking. Seeing me standing there, a small amount of shock shows up in those light colored eyes. But the gratefulness that I'm saving her life is the most obvious thing. The men let a rush of people out of the gate, Emma being the first. She swallows me in a hug, a hug I don't deserve and sounds like she's about to cry.

"Thank you Regina. Thank you so much."

I push her off. "This is for Henry Ms. Swan, not for me."

"Henry, yes, where is he?"

"Safe and sound on a lifeboat, like we're about to be."

"The men said they're still working on getting second class loaded. That's why they can't let us all go at once."

I look at her, longing to release that they are lying. "Ms. Swan, I haven't seen any women or children on the first class deck. Or the second class deck."

She looks confused. "Then why are they letting the men on before us? And what about those in steerage?"

I blink and look down, licking my lips. "Ms. Swan, they've barely let any men board." I met her eyes and I actually feel sorry. Sorry that so many people are going to die. "There aren't any more boats."

She blinks and her voice cracks. "What? But- there has to be. If the men are lying and barely letting us out, then steerage must still be-" Horror dilates her pupils, "They must still be locked in. We have to help them." And she goes running for the stairs.

"Ms. Swan!" I grab her wrist before she can descend. "All of their gates are locked and if the men haven't left, they won't open the gates for us."

"But all those people-"

"There are no more boats. Perhaps there are some collapsible ones, but very few." She looks down and tears fill her eyes. "All those people are going to die Ms. Swan. And if we don't get back on the first class deck soon enough, we're going to be one of them and Henry will be an orphan."

She bites her lips and raises her eyes to mine. "I'm not heartless Regina. If I'm going to die, I'm going to do so freeing more of humanity. If they're going to die, they'll want to die with hope."

"I promised Henry I'd keep you safe. What you're planning is suicide." I look down and gesture to the water reaching for my hips. "Now we need to go. Steerage must be up to their chests."

"Then we need to help them _now_." And she splashes down the stairwell.

I debate letting her die. I can tell Henry that I found her dead and I had to leave her. He wouldn't believe me. He'd call me a liar, say that I didn't even try and just saved myself. I suck in a breath and splash further into the icy water, feeling like knives are cutting open my legs. Emma is practically strangling the man that continues to withhold the keys.

She pulls him close and hisses into his ear, "There are no more lifeboats. They are going to die. Be a decent human being and let them die with hope." She glares at him. "Let them die as free as they'll ever get since they're not getting to free America."

He glances at her, then back at the crowd. Mothers and fathers are holding their children above the water, but they're beginning to look tired. Some people have given up and are just leaning against the cold walls, waiting for the water to drown and freeze them. I want to cry for them. Generally I feel no emotion towards people like them. The worthless poor people that have never and will never affect me. But children are my weakness. I see Abel and Rose and Bonny in their faces- fear and tears. I don't want to let them die.

I grab the man by the collar. "Let them out. _Now_."

Shaking, he goes through the keys and finds the one of this gate. The people push past him, running out of the water, their faces bright with hope. Some of the women are crying and the ones who have given up just look at us in shock.

"Come on, we have to find the other gates." She grabs my hand and tries to drag me past the gate, where the water will be up to our chests.

"_No_." I yank her back. "We've done what we could, but we _have _to get out. We do _not _have the time to go find every gate."

"But-"

"I'm glad we could save these people Ms. Swan, but if we don't get back on deck, we're going to die and I am _not _leaving Henry motherless."

I forcibly drag her up the stairs until she realizes that I'm speaking the truth and walks beside me like a civil human being. The boat is tilted so much we struggle to walk to where the last lifeboats were. Everyone is there, a great crowd of people listening to the band play happy tunes. Fireworks shoot off. The lights flicker and I drag Emma to the railing.

"We should probably jump before she sinks and we get sucked under."

"Oh no." She goes ashen white and suddenly bolts back down the stairs.

I'm going to have to chain her to me to keep her from running off. But I have to follow her, splashing back into icy water that had completely numbed from my thighs down. She gets all the way back to third class and finds her room, hurriedly unlocking it and trying to run through the thigh-high water. First she grabs a blanket from her trunk- a baby blanket with a purple ribbon and the name _Emma_ swirled in silk letters. The blanket she was in when the wardrobe brought her to this world. She wraps it around her shoulders like a small shawl and is about to come back to me, waiting in her doorway, when she spots something on her desk.

"Come here." She gestures and clicks a necklace of St. Gerard, Patron Saint of Expectant Mothers, on and tucks it into her dress front. Warily, I come and she gently puts a necklace of St. Raphael, Patron Saint of Safe Journeys, around my throat. "And give this one to Henry." She closes the clasp of another one around me- St. Nicholas, Patron Saint of Children.

I touch them both as they dangle over my chest. "I'm not a Christian Ms. Swan and I'm not Catholic."

But she gives me a look that says she doesn't care. Like most Irish, she's a strong Catholic and apparently these saints give her peace of mind. The one of St. Gerard was probably given to her when she was pregnant with Henry. The very thought makes me want to rip it off her neck. I'm not surprised by St. Raphael and I'm guessing she bought St. Nicholas to give to Henry when I gave in to him living with her. Or, she hoped I would give in.

"They'll protect you Regina. God loves everyone, repented or not. After all, he died for the very people who crucified him."

"Ms. Swan, I've been attending church since childhood. Before certain events," Daniel's death and Snow White's lie, "I believed that story too. But that same loving God you speak of took my true love. I will never forgive him for that."

"But now that love is happy in Heaven!" She glows.

"Enough Ms. Swan." I snap. "We need to get upstairs before the lights go out."

The flickering is more and more common and we can only half see as we make our way up the stairs, out of the freezing water. The tilt scares me and as we reach the first class deck, the lights go out. The band is now playing sorrowful tunes, they've run out of fireworks and everyone acts as if they've prepared for death.

The dread in my stomach is soon accompanied by the screech of metal and water is suddenly rushing up the deck as we start quickly becoming vertical. Emma, for once, springs into action first. She grabs my hand and flings us both over the railing. We tumble through the chilly air and when we hit the water, the sensation is being stabbed by thousands, maybe millions, of the sharpest knives. I gasp in shock, sucking in water and as my life vest brings me to the surface, I choke and cough up the salt water.

But on the surface, I do not see Emma. The suction of the sinking boat is starting to pull at my legs and I yell her name, praying that she wasn't caught underwater in the suction and has drowned.

"Regina!" I turn and see that she did not get as far from the ship as I did and the whirlpool of the sinking Titanic is trying to pull her beneath the surface.

I swim back to her, taking her hand firmly in mine and kick away with all my strength. She tries to help, but it's obvious that her legs are more frozen than mine from standing behind the third class gate for so long.

Her grip starts to slip, but I squeeze until her fingers swell. "Do _not _let go of my hand Emma, do you understand? _Do not let go of my hand_. Promise me that."

She nods. "I promise." But she continues to act like a terrified child and starts crying when she looks back. The half we were on is completely vertical in the air and is suspended like that. People are screaming and crying everywhere, jumping or falling off of her. I yank her to bring her back to reality. Once that half sinks, the suction will start again. But she is frozen, breath and muttered prayers forming a cloud around her head. There is one last unified scream as the last visible half slowly descends into the freezing water.

Feeling the suction again, she looks back at me like a horrified child. I pull her hand and together we do our best to swim away. The water is numbing us both quickly and there is so much debris in the water it's hard to navigate. Other people are paddling around too, clinging to crates or chairs or chunks of table. The half dead float, blinking slowly, long, low, scary sighs coming from their mouths, forming a temporary cloud of moisture around them. I tug Ms. Swan past them.

Eventually we have to stop swimming. Our muscles can barely move and we're so numb we can even feel ourselves. We scan each other and say what we see. I comment on Emma's ice filled hair and the frozen tears on her cheeks. She admits that I have blue lips and ice crystals glitter on my skin.

We bob like this for a while- possibly hours, maybe only minutes- and tell stories. Emma tells how she's been in orphanages or temporarily living with rotten families her whole life. She confesses jail time and pre-marital sex (though God always forgave her and that's why she's such a strong Christian). I did not have a childhood in this world, but I do tell her about Daniel. A young man who worked for my father and would come to steal my heart. Then my story flows into how a little girl lied and gave away the secret that I loved him. Soon enough I have admitted to my marriage to Leopold and my three children. Never once do I make a reference that would make her be suspicious of the Enchanted Forest.

I feel my eyes closing, my body giving up. Emma grabs my hand through the water and squeezes it so hard that even through my shutting-down veins I can still feel it.

"A life boat- it's coming back this way." I squint and realize she's telling the truth. "We're here! We're alive!" She yells and waves her free arm frantically. "Please help! We're alive!" Her voice is cracking, but she continues to yell.

The boat appears no bigger. It doesn't disappear, but it doesn't come closer. She yells till she can't, then I take up the task. But soon I grow tired. My soul wants to leave and my body wants to die. My mind is giving up.

I start closing my eyes, wishing for sleep and knowing that I'll die soon. I'll die in my sleep, peaceful and frozen. Contrary to belief, someone will not murder me for revenge. But Emma keeps waking me up, demanding that I keep living. I try to shake her off, but she won't let me do this.

"You kept me alive, now I have to keep you alive."

"For what purpose? Henry wants to be with you and he hates me. Without Henry I'm a childless widow with nothing but money and an empty house. Dying would bring so much relief."

She slaps me across the face. "That was to wake you up. Now stay alive. Henry is keeping _both _of his moms."

I stare at her doubtfully, but try to restore myself to hope anyways. In America, maybe there will be a man who will love me. Henry will visit Emma every summer and my new husband and I will have children. Maybe two- a boy and a girl. Maybe three little girls who shriek with happiness whenever they play with Mama or joke with Papa. The thought cracks a smile onto my blue lips.

"The sun's rising Regina. They'll be able to see that we're alive. Look, they're even getting closer!" She waves and calls again and suddenly the boat is speeding towards us.

"My God." One of the men says when he sees us. "Both of you are blue. How are you even alive?"

"God and hope." Emma smiles and let's go of my hand to be lifted into the boat.

But the boat is already full with other people. Some, like us, are half frozen. But the others are the last of them, the very last people to climb aboard a lifeboat. I recognize some of the people we let free from steerage and the third class. The boat can only take one more and now that one spot is filled with Emma. There is no room anywhere. Small children are even stretched on the floor to create more space.

"Ma'am-" The man's voice trails off as he looks at the full life boat. "I'm so sorry. I'd like to say that another boat is coming, but I'm afraid it's not. We were the last to come back and the only to come back this far."

I look at Emma, wrapped in a generous woman's coat. She'll live. Henry will go to Chicago and they'll be happy, as mother and son. In America, Henry will attend a good school and will experience the possibilities lost to us in England. He'll get to travel more too. The goal was a whole new life and he'll get that with her.

I reach up and unclasp the St. Nicholas necklace. "Give this to Henry. Tell him I love him."

Her eyes show horror, regret and sadness. "I-I can't leave you Regina. I owe you my life. I can't abandon you now."

"Well you're going to have to. Move to Chicago and have a good life." I smile at her and reach my wet, frozen hand out to her, squeezing it one last time. "Bury me in America. Somewhere pretty in New York. Don't write 'Loving Mother' unless Henry truly wants to. Be happy." I let go.

The tears leak silently down her cheeks. "The next boat we see, I'll tell them about you. They'll come back and rescue you too. We'll share Henry and be happy."

I shake my head, tears on my own cheeks and force a smile. "Whatever boat rescues all of us, try to get them to take me. If they won't, just have a memorial service. I like roses Ms. Swan. Red roses."

She looks completely broken. "It's Emma Regina. Just Emma."

I smile and push away from the boat. "Well good luck then, Just Emma."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Emma's POV

I can't watch her disappear. Me, safe and growing warmer, watching her sink into the gray morning bleakness, freezing and growing closer to death. I force myself to face forward, not allowing myself to cry for technically killing another human being. But I convince myself that she wanted me on here and I'm only completing her final wish. We'll have a memorial service with red roses. I'll explain to Henry how everything happened and give him the option of moving to Chicago or staying in New York. I close my eyes and take deep breaths, enjoying that the numbness is leaving.

We turn around and row back away from the wreck. We do not pass Regina and for that I'm thankful. I do not want to see if she is dead yet. Eventually the sun lights up the sky and we must force ourselves to look anywhere but the water. The only thing you can see is frozen bodies. Some of the women on board cry for them and for the small children I murmur quiet prayers.

By some miracle, we're rescued by the _Carpathia._ Once they locate all the lifeboats, they try to pull up individuals who appear alive. Those lucky enough to have found crates or pieces of a door. Very few of those are alive. On the deck, they order us into classes. First, I locate Henry in first class. He runs to me with tears and after we hug, he demands to know about Regina. Mom.

I wipe the tears off his cheeks and try to make a smile, but it shakes on my face. "Henry, she- she didn't make it. There was only room for one in the lifeboat."

He does not understand. He probably won't for many years. "But-but she promised."

"She promised to come back with me, I know."

We hug and I hold him until a man asks if I'm in this class. I briefly explain everything and he allows me to stay with my son. We don't bother trying to locate anyone. We just stay and sleep and cry. For the next three days, we live this way. We sleep fitfully on borrowed blankets, barely eat anything and hardly talk. Several times I wake up to hear Henry crying. My comfort, though, is not worth much. Despite all the claims that she didn't love him, she died proving that she wanted his love. I know he is heavy with deep regrets and sorrow. The woman who raised him is gone. She is not coming back. We can be together now, as true mother and son, but it seems that he barely wants me now. He wants to hug Regina and tell her that he loves her and he's sorry. He says the words in his dreams almost every night.

Finally, we arrive in New York. The press is there, asking questions about the sinking and snapping pictures. I break one of the cameras shoving it away from Henry.

People say life passes in a blur and I start to believe them after Regina's memorial service. Henry and I move to Chicago and I promise that every year on her birthday and on April 15th to put a dozen red roses on her grave. On his birthday I give him the St. Nicholas necklace and tell him what I did to retrieve it and how Regina gave it back to me. I tell him how she still wears St. Raphael. This gives him a little comfort- imaging her happy in Heaven with his grandparents. But a never ending gloom seems to follow him everywhere, even when an entire years has gone by.

"Henry," I say on April 18th, 1913, "I think you need to go back to school. I know it's been hard, the past year, with everything happening, but I think it's what Regina would want."

With the money from her will, which was mailed from England, we bought a beautiful little house on the outskirts of Chicago. I work every day downtown as a police deputy while Henry stays home and does what he pleases. For an eleven year old, he has a wonderful green thumb and both the vegetable and flower garden is full of healthy plants. He cleans everything to be spotless and shiny and reads adventure books unless they involve travelling on a boat.

"Mom said that she was going to get me tutors and once I was on the American level, she'd enroll me in a private school. Back in England I was at a boarding school."

I nod. That sounds exactly like her and for a moment we let silence ring. A year later, we still have a moment of respective silence after mentioning her name or something she did.

"That sounds like a good plan. Do you want to follow through?"

"Could I just have tutors come here? I-I don't want to go to a school."

"Why not?"

"They'll figure out I'm a Titanic kid."

Even a year later the press is still wild about the story. Any survivors they can find, they interview and take pictures of. In newspapers even here, the stories show up. People talk about them at the police station. They don't know I'm a survivor yet, but they're getting suspicious. I always have to go on a 'family trip' on April 15th.

"We won't let them know. You need a social environment. It'll be fun, I promise."

He nods quietly and bites his lip. "Mom used to promise things all the time. She'd promise a teddy bear on my birthday or a trip around New Year's Eve or a special dessert after dinner. And she always promised that she'd love me. Even when I stopped loving her, she would kiss my head every night and say 'I love you, I promise.' She thought I was asleep, but I wasn't."

'I promise'. A lump grows in my throat and it is difficult not to break into hysterical sobs. When the suction of the first half sinking almost pulled me under, I called out to her. She swan back and grabbed my hand tight and when I started to slip, she told me not to let go of her hand. She looked me in the eyes and demanded that I promise her I wouldn't. And I spoke those two words assuredly, nothing but thanks in my eyes.

And when that lifeboat came, I let go of her hand. Even when I promised I wouldn't.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

My eyelids rip back from my face. "I promised!" I throw the other woman's coat off and splash out of the boat. The men call back to me and most of the people think I've lost my mind.

I swim through the dead, calling her name. "Regina! Regina Mills!" It's still gray out and I can't tell what body is who. A cough comes from someone floating ahead of me. "Regina, it's me, Emma!"

Her voice cracks. "Emma?"

I swim up to her and hug her so roughly we bump beneath the surface for a minute. Her eyes are only open halfway and her lips are deathly blue and her skin dangerously frozen. It appears that she cannot move well at all.

"Why are you here? Where's the lifeboat?"

"They're over there, oh, I hope they don't leave us."

"Leave _us_?"

"I promised you."

"You promised me what?"

"I promised I wouldn't let go." I take her frozen hand in mine even though she probably can't even feel it. "I can't break a promise."

"Emma, there is no choice right now. Some childlike promise means nothing."

"On the contrary, it means a lot. I'll figure out a way to get you into the lifeboat, come on."

I help her swim through the icy water where the lifeboat sits, waiting. But I refuse to get in unless they make room for her. We sit the children in their parent's laps, shuffle around a bit and make enough room for her to lie down. They pull me into the boat, wrap me again in the woman's coat and help Regina in after me. The tears freeze on her cheeks as she cries in happiness. She is not going to die. Since I'm wet she lays her head in the man's lap next to me and we continue to gently hold the others hand.

Like my dream, we float for a long time. I appear to get better, but even though Regina is draped in two jackets, she appears to get worse. I replace the St. Nicholas necklace to her neck to remind her who she is alive for. She presses a small smile to her lips, but it's obvious.

"I'm not going to make it Emma. Thank you for everything you've done. I'll never forget it. But nature beat your attempts."

Tears leak out and form ice on my cheeks. "But-but Henry loves you. He needs you."

"He wants you Emma, not me." She hands the St. Nicholas necklace back and looks up at the man who is holding her. "Kiss me." She whispers softly. "So I can die with sweetness on my lips."

His eyes are teary too and when he blinks they trail along the sides of his face. But he bends over and oh so gently presses his lips to hers. He holds the bottom of her chin and the sides of her face until the long, tender kiss breaks. When his face rises from her and he removes his hands her head lulls to the side, her mouth slightly open and her eyes are closed. Both of us search for her pulse, but it's gone. No more fog passes from her lips. Gently, I brush her bangs off of her forehead, stuck there by ice. Softly, I murmur a prayer for her soul and the man joins me. We sit in silence after that, waiting for rescue.

"Thank you." My voice cracks. "For being so kind."

He presses a sad smile to his lips. "I always thought she was beautiful. I admired her from afar many times. She knew it too. But having a son, she couldn't really start a romantic relationship."

I nod. "That kiss showed compassion. What's your name?"

"Graham."

"I'm Emma."

He nods. "Lovely name."

"Thank you."

Two more chapters people! Are you ready?


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